Aslaug ( ), also called Aslög, Kráka (O.N.: ) or Kraba, is a figure in

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...

who appears in Snorri's

Edda "Edda" (; Old Norse ''Edda'', plural ''Eddur'') is an Old Norse term that has been applied by modern scholars to the collective of two Medieval Icelandic literary works: what is now known as the ''Prose Edda'' and an older collection of poems ( ...

, the

Völsunga saga The ''Völsunga saga'' (often referred to in English as the ''Volsunga Saga'' or ''Saga of the Völsungs'') is a legendary saga, a late 13th-century prose rendition in Old Norse of the origin and decline of the Völsung clan (including the story ...

and in the saga of

Ragnar Lodbrok Ragnar Lodbrok (Old Norse: ''Ragnarr loðbrók'', ), according to legends, was a Viking hero and a Legendary Kings of Sweden, Swedish and Legendary kings of Denmark, Danish king.Tale of Ragnar Lodbrok The Tale of Ragnarr Loðbrók () is an Icelandic legendary saga of the 13th century about the Viking ruler Ragnarr loðbrók. It is first found in the same manuscript as '' Vǫlsunga saga'', which it immediately follows. The tale covers the origin ...

'', Aslaug was the daughter of

Sigurd Sigurd ( ) or Siegfried (Middle High German: ''Sîvrit'') is a legendary hero of Germanic heroic legend, who killed a dragon — known in Nordic tradition as Fafnir () — and who was later murdered. In the Nordic countries, he is referred t ...

and the

shieldmaiden A shield-maiden ( ) was a female warrior from Scandinavian folklore and mythology. The term most often shows up in fornaldarsögur such as '' Hervarar saga ok Heiðreks''. However, female warriors are also mentioned in the Latin work ''Gesta Da ...

Brynhildr Brunhild, also known as Brunhilda or Brynhild ( , , or ), is a female character from Germanic heroic legend. She may have her origins in the Visigothic princess and queen Brunhilda of Austrasia. In the Norse tradition, Brunhild is a shiel ...

, but was raised by Brynhildr's foster father

Heime Heime ( German), Háma (), or Heimir (Old Norse) was a Germanic figure in Germanic heroic legend who often appears together with his friend Witige.The article Heimer' in '' Nordisk familjebok'' (1909). He is mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon poems '' ...

r. At the deaths of Sigurd and Brynhildr, Heimer was concerned about Aslaug's security, so he made a harp large enough to hide the girl. He then traveled as a poor harp player carrying the harp containing the girl. They arrived at

Spangereid Spangereid is a former municipality that was located in the old Vest-Agder Vest-Agder (; "West Agder") was one of 18 counties (''fylker'') in Norway from 1 January 1919 to 31 December 2019, after it was merged with Aust-Agder to form Agder ...

Lindesnes Lindesnes () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Sørlandet. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Manda ...

in Norway, where they stayed for the night in the house of the peasants Áke and Grima. Áke believed the harp contained valuable items and told his wife Grima. Grima then persuaded him to murder Heimer as he was sleeping. However, when they broke the harp open, they discovered a little girl, whom they raised as their own, calling her Kráka ("Crow"). In order to hide her beauty – the accepted sign of her noble origins – they rubbed her in tar and dressed her in a long hood. However, once as she was bathing, she was discovered by some of the men of the legendary king

Scholarship

According to Marilyn Jurich, Aslaug's tale in the ''Saga of Ragnar Lodbrok'' is the prototype of the "Clever Peasant Girl" folk tale, Aarne–Thompson No. 875. The saga matches the tale closely up to Aslaug's marriage to Ragnar, but even after that there are similarities: The saga highlights Aslaug's resolve (she refuses sex to Ragnar until after marriage) and her seemingly preternatural wisdom: because Ragnar insists on bedding her immediately after the wedding, contrary to her advice, their first son Ivar was born weak, "boneless". The

Brothers Grimm The Brothers Grimm ( or ), Jacob Grimm, Jacob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm, Wilhelm (1786–1859), were Germans, German academics who together collected and published folklore. The brothers are among the best-known storytellers of Oral tradit ...

discuss the similarities of their tale 1815 No. 8 "Die kluge Bauerntochter," with the Nordic tale of Kraka in the appendix entry of the text. They also discuss similarities to a tale in

Johannes Pauli Johannes Pauli (about 1455 – after 1530 at Thann in Alsace) was a German Franciscan writer. Life What little is known of his life rests upon unreliable information. Ludwig von Pastor rejected the story that he was of Jewish descent, and had ...

's "Schimpf und Ernst" from 1519 to 1522.

In other fiction

The romantic poem "The Fostering of Aslaug" by

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...

is a retelling of Aslaug's relationship with Ragnar, based on the version of the tale in

Benjamin Thorpe Benjamin Thorpe (1782 – 19 July 1870) was an English scholar of Old English language, Anglo-Saxon literature. Biography In the early 1820s he worked as a banker in the House of Rothschild, in Paris. There he met Thomas Hodgkin, who treated hi ...

's ''Northern Mythology'' (1851). It is changed in tone and emphasis by Morris' romanticism, excising the saga's more somber and complicated motifs and portraying Ragnar as the typical hero wooing the maiden. She appears in

Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué Friedrich Heinrich Karl de la Motte, Baron Fouqué (; 12 February 1777 – 23 January 1843) was a German writer of the Romantic style. Biography He was born at Brandenburg an der Havel, of a family of French Huguenot origin, as evidenced in h ...

's "Aslauga's Knight," published in 1810 with two other Icelandic romances as ''Der Held des Nordens'' (The Hero of the North). A principal character in the television series ''

Vikings Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

'' (2013–2016), played by

Alyssa Sutherland Alyssa Sutherland (born 23 September 1982) is an Australian actress. She is best known for her role as Ellie in '' Evil Dead Rise'', the fifth installment of the ''Evil Dead'' franchise. Early life Sutherland was born in Brisbane. She is of Sco ...

, is loosely based on the legend, and introduced to Ragnar in the manner it described.

References

Footnotes

Sources

* * {{Norse mythology Heroes in Norse myths and legends Völsung cycle Ragnar Lodbrok Mythological queens ATU 850-999